This Is Just Me
by Phayte
Summary: AU: Lina's got a gift someone else wants....[xlz]
1. Chapter 1

NOTE::::: if you're suffering from writer's block, visit my website and click on the "Your Challenge" link, it's got a writer's  
  
challenge there that'll, hopefully, get response and dig some ppl outta that proverbial hole known as writer's block!!!  
  
**Disclaimer** Don't own Slayers or any of the songs used here, unless I wrote them, in which I'll specify.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
A small, red-headed woman walked up onto a nightclub stage, smiling brightly. Men in the crowd called out loudly and   
  
whistled, women clapped and some cheered. The woman was indeed popular, and she gave a smug smile, knowing just  
  
that. The glittering red camisole she wore hugged her torso comfortably, pronouncing what little chest she had. A tight  
  
black short skirt and knee-high high-heeled leather boots finished off her outfit. Her shimmering bright red hair swayed   
  
gracefully as she turned her head and nodded at someone backstage, indicating she was ready. Instantly, up-beat music  
  
began to play, she started to sing.  
  
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Daddy you don't know the half of it  
  
See I've started something  
  
Now I've have to finish it  
  
The curtin blows outside my bedroom window  
  
This is my life and i've gotta go  
  
I check to see if there is a ladder  
  
in my stocking tight  
  
don't forget to leave the light on  
  
I'll be home before you know  
  
dun be mad if u hear me on the radio  
  
i feel good and i feel free  
  
on the microphone...  
  
Somebody stop me  
  
keep my body rocking til late night  
  
im warning you  
  
dun try to block me  
  
you can't stop me on my time  
  
on my time  
  
Come my girlies for the score? (what)  
  
they scream out better meet em' at the back door  
  
sky rockin to where the speakers blow  
  
bass heavy rock steady grab the microphone  
  
now check the clock is reading 10 pm  
  
i bet my daddys dreaming  
  
he sleep talking so loud again  
  
ill be home before you know  
  
don't be mad if you hear me on the radio  
  
i feel good and i feel free  
  
on the microphone...  
  
Somebody stop me  
  
keep my body rocking til late night  
  
im warning you  
  
dun try to block me  
  
you can't stop me on my time  
  
Somebody stop me  
  
keep my body rocking til late night  
  
im warning you  
  
dun try to block me  
  
you can't stop me on my time  
  
i leave the light on  
  
i won't make a sound daddy  
  
gotta get my grove on  
  
ill be jumping round yeah yeah  
  
i leave the light on  
  
i won't make a sound daddy  
  
gotta get my grove on  
  
ill be jumping round yeah yeah  
  
Somebody stop me  
  
keep my body rocking til late night  
  
im warning you  
  
dun try to block me  
  
you can't stop me on my time  
  
Somebody stop me  
  
keep my body rocking til late night  
  
im warning you  
  
dun try to block me  
  
you can't stop me on my time  
  
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/  
  
A young girl, quite small for her age of thirteen, growled angrily, "I'll be back before you even miss me!"  
  
"Well who's gonna make my dinner?"  
  
"Her's an idea, how bout you! I told you I have PLANS! And they're not to sit around here all day as your slave!"  
  
"Girl, don't you take that tone with me!" The large, bearded man's red eyes glared at her as he stood up. However, the   
  
glare was wasted on the girl, for it did not faze her.  
  
"I'll take any tone with you I want DADDY." She lingered spitefully on the last word, acid dripping from her voice.  
  
"You won't be goin' to that club again. I ain't gon' get humiliated 'cause my reject of a daughter dancin' 'round with that   
  
good for nothin'-"  
  
"Will you just shut up and go put a fricken' TV dinner in the microwave?" Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she  
  
grabbed her purse and made for the door.  
  
Suddenly, it was as if the ground had been snatched from beneath her. Her father had gripped her shoulder and picked  
  
her up with little effort. Lina I said you wasn't goin'!" His chubby face screwed up into a scowl and he slapped her hard   
  
on the face, leaving cuts where his nails dug her skin. He proceeded to throw her against the far wall, where she  
  
crumpled in a pitiful heap, her brilliant red hair splayed about her, shrouding her from her father's eyes.  
  
He suddenly adopted an innocent tone, "Now why don't you keep your father company he's been lonely since your   
  
mother left."  
  
"She died you selfish animal!" Her head jerked up and acidic anger dripped from her eyes still obscured by her bangs,   
  
her body glowing an ethereal red color. Hitching her purs on her arm as she stood, she kept her head down and her   
  
voice a dead calm, "I'm going out, I'll be back before you even miss me. All you have to do for dinner is to take out a   
  
TV dinner from the freezer and put it in the microwave for five minutes." She made a conscious effort not to limp and   
  
show her father that he'd hurt her.  
  
"I said you wasn't goin' nowhere Again he set his hand on her shoulder, gripping tightly  
  
Her voice was still a dead calm, "Take your hands off me or I'll-"  
  
Rapidly he spun her around, furiously, "I have forbidden you from ever using that witch power of your mother's!"  
  
She grinned, it was humorous how afraid of her gift he was. She pulled, roughly, out of his grip and walked out into the  
  
night.  
  
She never came back.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: yup, another one, though i do like this one and where it's goin. As for myths, well, just a lil clue for all those who're  
  
reading it, i had to take some time off from it to actually think of the direction it's going in; and i've made a discovery, it's   
  
gonna take a wide turn in the next couple of chapters. And yes, i'm working on that so it'll be up soon, i promise! 


	2. Chapter 2

NOTE::::: if you're suffering from writer's block, visit my website and click on the "Your Challenge" link, it's got a writer's challenge there that'll, hopefully, get response and dig some ppl outta that proverbial hole known as writer's block!!!  
  
**Disclaimer** Don't own Slayers or any of the songs used here, unless I wrote them, in which I'll specify.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
A young man sat in the back watching the singer as she danced and sang, an aura of good feeling coming from the song and her expression, hiding something darker. She was a bright star in a dark space. The man, garbed in a beige cloak, the hood pulled over his head, smiled as he saw something glint in her eyes just before she finished the song.  
  
"So, did we find her? Ooh, a pretty one! You have a good sense of detection Zelgadiss-san."  
  
The man called Zelgadiss jumped then rolled his eyes, grumbling, at the sudden appearance of another man at his side, "Xellos, I told you NOT to do that!"  
  
The one named Xellos floated cross-legged in the air, his black cloak dangling to the floor, "My sincere apologies Zelly-chan," he smiled at the glare shot at him by his counterpart, "So, do you think we'll be able to rope her in?"  
  
This time Zel grinned looking up at the petite woman still on the stage bowing to a crowd cheering so loud the two mens' conversation was well concealed, "Nope."  
  
Xellos frowned, "How did I ever get stuck with a sarcastic sour-puss like you?"  
  
Zel mumbled something and stood, his eyes following the retreating red-head offstage. "I've got this all take care of, you can go and tell L-sama."  
  
"Aw, but this was supposed to be a team effort! And besides, I'll want to meet that lovely firefly." Xellos grinned.  
  
Zel turned on Xellos, a vicious scowl adorning his features, "DON'T mess this up!"  
  
Xellos nodded eagerly, his eyes closed tightly, and proceeded to follow his partner backstage when the coast was clear.  
  
~\*/~  
  
"Miss Lina! Miss Lina please, ,have a drink of water, uh, something after that wonderful performance you MUST have something to drink!"  
  
The woman in question rolled her fire-bright eyes, flashing annoyance at the young girl following her around. "Amelia, I"m FINE!" Sure, it was nice to have such a diehard fan, but relly, she was just a night club singer! But hey, if the kid wanted to waste her time waiting on Lina hand and foot, well, that was her choice.  
  
Lina looked in Amelia's pitifully wide eyes and her 'whipped puppy' expression and decided to humor the girl, "Fire, gimme some water."  
  
Amelia's face immediately brightened and she tripped over herself racing to get some water. Lina stiffled a giggle, the girl really was cute and she couldn't imagine life without her. Amelia was like the little sister Lina never had.  
  
Her breath caught in her throat suddenly as she was spun around to face a strange man in a beige cloak, his face hidden by the hood, half by, what Lina thought she saw as lavender-colored hair. Roughly, he held her shoulders and stared h\into her ruby-red eyes, it didn't take long for Lina to make out his dark, bottomless blue eyes; they looked almost hungry, searching for something inside her. Despite herself, Lina began to tremble, her mind willing him to stop, but her body, her soul, wishing to break bonds she had secured years before.  
  
"Wh-who are-" she cut herself off when the odd man broke the gaze and turned over her hand and ran course fingers, covered by gloves, over it, whispering something. Lina felt a familiar prick in the back of her mind, an awareness of something greater in the universe. It began to flood her mind as something swelled in her hand. Tearing her thoughts away from the wonderous power, she gave a shout of rotest and snatched her hand away.  
  
Footsteps sounded from somewhere further backstage, coming toward them. A male voice, having a concerned tone to it, accompanied the steps, Lina? Is everything ok?" A tall blonde man, who's hair fell to his ankles, stepped out of a shadow, towering over Zelgadiss and lina. He looked around, his clear sky blue eyes, quite the opposite of Zel's, glistened in worry.  
  
Zelgadiss spun her around and pulled a sword out of a sheath somewhere under his cloak, holding it at her throat. This caught the man's attention and his eyes grew larger, Lina!!" His hand went to a sword buckled at his side.  
  
Gourry don't! He's a-"  
  
"Zelly-chan, I can't find her anywhere!" Xellos opened his eyes to see the potential battle brewing. Lina got her first glimpse of the strange man and gasped, he was like nothing she'd ever seen before, his purple hair was actually his natural color, how she knew that she didn't know. He was mostly garbed in black, accept for his beige shirt. And finally, his purple eyes held a mysterious amusement in them.  
  
"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" Xellos said, looking from person to person.  
  
"Lina, who're your friends?" The man called Gourry looked completely lost.  
  
Lina began to struggle in Zelgadiss's hold, shouting at Gourry, "Gourry, you're such an idiot! Get me out of here you jellyfish brain!"  
  
Xellos smiled, snapping his eyes shut, "Zelgadiss?"  
  
With a swish of his cape, Zelgadiss was gone with Xellos and Lina.  
  
"LINA!!!"  
  
"Mr. Gourry, what's wrong, where's Miss Lina?"  
  
Gourry seethed, gripping the hilt of his sword, "She's gone, they took her, whoever they were."  
  
The glass of water slipped from Amelia's grasp, shattering as it hit the floor, spilling water all over. It went unnoticed, however, as Amelia put her hands to her mouth in a frighted gasp, "Oh no!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
a/n: chapter two done, i'll probably type the others in school cuz it's easier than typing on my own keyboard....my poor little fingers is tired. Hope you like it! Reviews always welcome! 


	3. Chapter 3

NOTE::::: if you're suffering from writer's block, visit my website and click on the "Your Challenge" link, it's got a writer's challenge there that'll, hopefully, get response and dig some ppl outta that proverbial hole known as writer's block!!!  
  
**Disclaimer** Don't own Slayers or any of the songs used here, unless I wrote them, in which I'll specify.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
Her songs had always had a purpose, to put her memories into song, in such a way that gave her a slightly better outlook on life, or at least, her past. In her mind, Lina sang a song she had written long after she had left home.  
  
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/  
  
I aint no queen of hearts,  
  
I go through stages..  
  
I fall in love  
  
then complicate it  
  
yea, you know the feeling  
  
without much hope  
  
just blind ambition  
  
pretending that theres nothing missing  
  
i always kept believing  
  
that more..  
  
i thought if i had more  
  
i wouldnt get so bored  
  
but everything just left me empty  
  
love walking in and out of my door  
  
wasnt good enough no more  
  
when i dont trust myself, life really sucks  
  
and first time i thought it but i didnt do it  
  
last time thats when i really blew it  
  
but this time im gonna do it different  
  
cuz i know i know i know  
  
if i put everything i have into it  
  
eventually, im gonna get whats good for me  
  
im just trying to be creative  
  
but everyones so opinionated  
  
they wanna tell me what im feeling  
  
cuz one mans junks anothers treasure  
  
when its done its hard to measure  
  
or keep from believing  
  
that more  
  
if only i had more  
  
i wouldnt get so bored  
  
but i know its gonna leave me empty  
  
life walking in and out of my door  
  
wasnt good enough nomore  
  
well i dont trust myself  
  
my heart'll get stuck  
  
and first time i thought it but i didnt do it  
  
last time thats when i really blew it  
  
but this time im gonna do it different  
  
cuz i know i know i know  
  
if i put everything i have into it  
  
eventually, im gonna get whats good for me  
  
cuz i don't want to  
  
live my life wonderin  
  
if only, i woulda, i shoulda, i coulda  
  
but i didn't cuz i'd only blame myself again  
  
and first time i thought it but i didnt do it  
  
last time thats when i really blew it  
  
but this time im gonna do it different  
  
cuz i know i know i know  
  
if i put everything i have into it  
  
eventually, im gonna get whats good for me  
  
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/  
  
A tiny, ten-year-old-girl sat on her bed, tears leaking out of her beautiful ruby eyes. She stared at her palm, blood running freely from dozens of cuts and slashes running up and down, side to side. Flesh was already bruising around the cuts and the girl could do no more than twitch her index finger ever-so-slightly. Ignoring the brilliant sunshine and sounds of other children's laughter outside, which normally would pull her outside herself, she put her good hand to her face and sobbed.  
  
"Daddy, you're so mean! All i wanted to do was be like mommy!"  
  
A tall, handsome, middle-aged man walked in and scowled at the crying child, "Girl, your mother was evil! She had them powers and she used them for horrible purposes. I ain't gonna let you become that you understand?"  
  
The child was suddenly angered, ever since her mother's death, all her father did was bad-mouth her about the "witch-powers" her kind mother possessed. "If mommy was so evil then why'd you marry her?" She shouted at her father. As far as the little girl could remember, her mother had used her abilities for helping, healing, never hurting.  
  
"I felt sorry for her, thought I could change 'er. Keep her from using them powers 'gain."  
  
"You're lying-" She was cut off when her father crossed the room in three strides and belted her across the face so hard, she was pushed backward.  
  
Reaching out, he took her hand and shoved it to her face, "Ya see this girl? I cut this up so you can't do that crap! You understand Lina, y'ain't gonna use it like your mother did! I'm not havin' my daughter get exiled for something I could'a stopped."  
  
Lina just sat up and glared at him, refusing to let tears fall from her eyes. After a bit, he left and only then did she let the pain leak from her glistening eyes. Looking at her hand, she thought back to when her mother passed, Lina had been at her side, she had told her daughter to covet what she had, not let herself forget about it, but never use it for evil.  
  
Lina had always considered experimenting with it, try to do something, after all those who had it had told her she was very powerful, it was her birthrate, but her father never looked highly upon her doing anything with her gift, so all she cose to do was dream; until that day. That's when she blew it, getting angry at some kitchenware, she blasted it. Lina herself, was ecstatic, it was a rush, feeling that power, that awareness, this was who she was, what she was meant to do.  
  
In a rage, her father rushed in, madder than she'd ever seen him. He quickly surveyed the miss, his daughter, and her hand. It didn't take long for him to put things together, and he set about beating that rush out of her, then, cut up her right hand. Al she knew for the rest of that day was pain, her whole body hurt so bad her father had to carry her into her room. Eventually the pain subsided, then she cried, but refused to come out, not even hunger could persuade her.  
  
From then on, she decided never to use her gift, to push it back to the farthest reaches of her mind. This time she was finally going to get it right by her father, after all, she still had many years to live with him before she could leave.  
  
"But all I want is what's good for me." Lina lay down and fell asleep, a final tear falling fro mher cheek.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
a/n: tear jerker? This may sound morbid, but that's what i was goin for. Anyway, yeah, i just feel this incredible need to type so i'll probably be typing out chapter four too, then writing the rest of chapter five during study hall. Review! 


	4. Chapter 4

NOTE::::: if you're suffering from writer's block, visit my website and click on the "Your Challenge" link, it's got a writer's challenge there that'll, hopefully, get response and dig some ppl outta that proverbial hole known as writer's block!!!  
  
**Disclaimer** Don't own Slayers or any of the songs used here, unless I wrote them, in which I'll specify.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 4:  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
Lina didn't even bother looking at Zelgadiss. She finished her song while she hd her back facing him, "Nothing....mind telling me what you want from me?" The barrier surrounding her flashed bright white for a minute, Zel frowned.  
  
"You're crying."  
  
"Am not, what do you want?"  
  
"You're sad-" Zelgadiss really wasn't getting this, he was told this woman was infamous for her temper, and he knew she had the gift, so why wasn't she trying to blast everything into oblivion to remedy her mood rather than just crying?  
  
"So what if I am?!" Lina stood to face him, "What do you want?!!"  
  
He smiled, or more twitched his mouth slightly, as he saw the barrier flare red, "You have the gift don't you?" He already knew, but he wanted to hear her admit it.  
  
Lina stuttered, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
Zel turned around, his back facing her, "Now, what were you about to tell your big blonde friend, Gourry I believe it was? I'm a...."  
  
"Sorcerer." She finished for him, "Yes, but I've not used it in so long, it's been forbidden."  
  
"By the same person you were crying over?"  
  
Lina seethed, the audacity of this guy! She said nothing, but watched him as he fiddled with something in front of him.  
  
"So who was it? Boyfriend, cruel older brother-?"  
  
"Father, what do you need to know any of this for?"  
  
"I figure you'd want to talk about this, isn't that what people really want when they have a problem, to talk and have someone listen?"  
  
"No," Lina said breathly, distracted as she looked at him curiously as he slowly pulled down his hood. She was now able to confirm, his hair WAS lavender, and it had a sort of metallic shine to it. "Who-"  
  
Zelgadiss had no idea why he was doing this, showing her this, she would surely be disgusted. But something strange told him to trust her, and he'd always followed his instincts, well, most of the time, so why not? He slowly turned around, Lina gasped, the barrier flashed blue. "What are you?"  
  
Zel frowned, so much for instincts, he pulled the mask up over his blue, stony skin. "I knew you'd take it like that, everyone does."  
  
The barrier turned a yellow color before fading transparent, "I-I was just a little shocked, but, but what happened?" Lina leaned forward, looking into his eyes, but keeping stock of where she knew the barrier was.  
  
"A special spell made, made me a chimera..."  
  
Lina gasped, what kind of power could do this? He looked diseased, and yet, healthy and strong as Gourry. "So why are you trusting me with this?"  
  
"Honestly, I have no idea, seemed like a good idea at the time. Probably so you'd open up, that barrier reacts to a wielder's emotions, put someone normal in there and it won't turn any color. That's how I knew you were crying, and confirmed that you really were gifted.  
  
"So you can say I have colorful emotions?" Lina stood and cocked her hip to the side, resting her hand on the hip, and stared at him, trying to look as if she were dead serious.  
  
Zelgadiss tried desperately to stifle a laugh, but failed. Lina found herself smiling, the tense atmosphere of the room lightening dramatically.  
  
Xellos suddenly appeared in the room, floating in the air above Zelgadiss, looking, for the world, like he was sitting on Zel's head. Zelgadiss himself moved a little to the left just to be sure.  
  
"Why, Zelly-chan, you were laughing! Well, you and our little snap dragon must've hit if off."  
  
Lina looked at Zel in utter confusion, "What's the deal with him?" Xellos just proceeded to smile, his eyes characteristically closed tightly, as if he heard none of it.  
  
"I'm not even sure, he's merely my partner in this little escapade." Zelgadiss sent a sideways glare at Xellos, who's eye and nose twitched slightly.  
  
Slowly, Lina nodded.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ a/n: yay, nother chapter done! now, if only i could find something my brother and i agree on, figure out my cat, and get my uncle to stop complaining about me being on the computer, when it's really no concern of his, then all will be well....however, i live in reality, where none of that happens. but i'll tell you what i can do, i can get chapter five done soon (maybe) and possibly even finish mythos!!! now wouldn't that be amazin'?! ok, i'm done rantin, leave reveiws! (spoken like a true desperate) 


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer** don't own slayers....duh, dont own Field of Innocence by Evanescence Lina wandered around her room very bored. They'd told her not to come out of this room unless summoned to do so, and yet, her curiosity rampaged like a caged beast, what was this all about? Why kidnap her? And how, HOW, did they know she was gifted?! Sitting roughly on the bed, Lina stared at her right hand, scarred purple from all the cuts and bruises her father subjected her to, just to be sure she didn't use her gift.  
  
But now, now she was given the chance to use it, for what she didn't know, but it was a chance. But then, she had no idea what these two wanted with her.  
  
Deciding to calm down before panic siezed her, Lina lay down on the floor and relaxed, taking in a deep breath, she began to sing while she fell aleep.  
  
I still remember the world  
  
From the eyes of a child  
  
Slowly those feelings  
  
Were clouded by what I know now  
  
Where has my heart gone  
  
An uneven trade for the real world  
  
I want to go back to  
  
Believing in everything and knowing nothing at all  
  
I still remember the sun  
  
Always warm on my back  
  
Somehow it seems colder now  
  
Where has my heart gone  
  
Trapped in the eyes of a stranger  
  
I want to go back to  
  
Believing in everything  
  
Where has my heart gone  
  
An uneven trade for the real world  
  
I want to go back to  
  
Believing in everything  
  
Where has my heart gone  
  
Trapped in the eyes of a stranger  
  
I want to go back to  
  
Believing in everything  
  
A tiny girl laughed gleefully while running amongst a field just outside of the village marketplace of thousands of pale pink flowers and grass to go up to her waist. The skirts of her blue dress fluttered behind her with the grass when the wind blew. A bright blue bow with color to rival that of the endless sky almost blew from the child's brilliant red hair and she had to put her hand atop the bow to make sure it didn't do just that. In the midst of the child's play, frantic voices came to her ears of her mother, whom she thought was grocery shopping, and the villiage bread seller.  
  
"Please your ladyship, don't! They'll banish you from the village!"  
  
The voice of her mother was not so much frantic as it had an urgent tone to it, "He's got to be helped and I won't sit around idylly ignoring him when I have the power to save him."  
  
"But Lady Carnen!"  
  
"Even though it takes my life."  
  
Lina ran to her mother, no longer as jovial as she once felt, she didn't have a full understanding of magic and how physical strain worked into the whole deal, but she did know that her mother often spoke of strong spells that could claim one's life during casting. Lina was old enough to know what death meant.  
  
"Please, you have a child to think about!"  
  
"Mamma!!" Despite her pace, Lina's small legs seemed not to be carrying her very far, this grass didn't seem as wonderful as it had once been, cutting at her bare legs. entangling in her toes and tripping her. Where were they? Why wasn't mommy listening? Fat tears ran down Lina's cheeks.  
  
"I regret leaving her the most, but her father will love her, of that I am certain. I have a chance to redeem my family name for the future of my daughter. If I don't do this for the village, I do it so my daughter won't be ashamed of her family and self, I do it that the people may appreciate the powers and accept my daughter."  
  
"But won't his highness resent being revived by the village witch?"  
  
Lina hated it when they called her mother that, she always seemed so sad when they denounced her as such, "Mamma don't!!!!!"  
  
But it was too late, no insult reached Carnen's ears, no desperate child throwing her hands out for her mother was seen. A white light burst in a pillar before Lina, a shockwave of power surged ahead, heedless of any standing in the way. Lina was thrown backward, eyes shielded from the light, screaming and sobbing.  
  
Just as quickly as it had come, the power vanished, leaving complete quiet, not even birds sand, the sun seemed less bright, and the sky slightly less blue, although the bow seemed to glow even more brilliantly. The silence, however, was broken by the baker rushing over to the male form sprawled ont he ground, "You're highness?"  
  
The man groaned and coughed, but was ignored by the small girl, finally making the last sprint toward her mother, who also lay on the ground, "Mamma! Mamma don't die! I forbid it!""  
  
Carnen opened her eyes weakly and smiled at her daughter, softly, she spoke, "My Lina, dont'' forget the gift given you," Carnen took Lina's small hand, "never taint it with evil intentions and never be ashamed of it. What I give today is what must have been done, I want you to become stronger than me and do good my child. I'll always love you, my light, my little firefly." Carnen closed her eyes for the last time, smiling gracefully.  
  
An unearthly scream tore its way from Lina's mouth, then she lay sobbing on her mother's body.  
  
***  
  
Lina woke with a start, her face wet and stained with tears, "Mamma, they rejected you, cursed you, and spit on you, but you still saved that prince, how could I ever become stronger than that? But I'll try, I promise."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
a/n: sad? realistic? hope so, just to let you know, this is probably the last of the memory chapters, but if u can see the pattern, i'm going for a song in every other one so there will be other significant chapters to come. sry it took so long, but i've just been devoid of any inspiration to write or type. the next chapter is written, i just have to find a time when i'll type it out...so it will be out sometime! 


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